In Regards To Horse Showing...

There is no doubt that this year has has been quite different.

I hope that this uncertain time has found everyone safe albeit life changing I'm sure.

While horse showing is literally not a priority at this time of change and uncertainty, I sure do miss it.

As states are starting to reopen/have reopened it is safe to say that here in the NC/SC territories an announcement was made that we will be indeed allow to horse show again in June - under strict guidelines of course. 

One of these guidelines is the use of masks. I have seen so many equestrian based companies start to make masks and of course I am going to have to get myself one. You can find masks via Dreamers & Schemers, Milton Menasco (sold out), Rönner Design just to name a few.

I just ordered a pair of masks from Rönner Design - along with other items as they have some great stuff on their sales page right now! 

As Lucas and I prepare to get back into horse show mode...lets just say we both have different ways of surviving this quarantine. I have been house buying, working, planning a wedding, and thinking all about applying to graduate school. Lucas on the other hand, well take a look for yourself.

He's been snacking:

Snoozing: 

Becoming a trail horse: 

And just letting it all hang out: 

Full blown retired by his book. 

Between his lifestyle and my new facemasks we are for sure horse show ready. 

How have you been surviving quarantine? Let me know and stay safe out there! 

Friday Favorites

Happy Friday everyone. Cheers to another week and another upcoming weekend.

Let's get to it.

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Curves and combat boots. I am in love with this brand. They are veteran owned and holy moly they are such good quality! I can only vouch for the bottoms at this point, but I plan on trying out some tops and sports bras soon. 

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These earrings! You better believe I will be getting myself a pair. How cute are they?!

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For my equestrian people - I just started reading this and am hooked. 

4//

5//

Please drink responsibly 

Have a great weekend!

Favorite Breeches

In honor of The Little Breech Book brought to you by the lovely lady of The Hunt blog, I am going to share with you my favorite breeches and why.

The book highlight's all different equestrian's with all different body types. Basically, they highlight their body type and their favorite pairs of breeches that they feel best suit's their bodies. Cool, huh? 

Let's face it, we all share in the struggle of finding breeches that we feel comfortable in. Even those who I think look great in breeches have voiced their insecurities to me. I on the other hand, well I really hate trying breeches on. I am not tall and long legged. I am an average 5'5" and have hips, thighs, and a booty. I do work out and would say I am hourglass shaped. So what breeches are my favorite? Continue reading to find out!

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Cavalleria Toscana American Breeches, Perforated Breeches, and the Outline Breech

These are the American Breeches in the color Ocean, which I adore! I have these in beige to show in and they are my favorite. 

Outline breech! They are so fun to school in. I have them in grey with burgundy piping!

Perforated breech. I have them in navy! 

I am the same size in all of these styles, which is incredibly nice. Also, the material is like butter. No other breeches feel so great to me. The price tag is a bit of a downer, but these are my all time favorites. 

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Struck Apparel 50 series breeches

These fit me so incredibly well. They hug me in all the right places and provide incredible support. Major bonus - they come in half sizes!! 25, 27, 29. etc! Why can't all companies do this? The price tag is also very favorable in the world of breeches. The only thing I don't absolutely love about them is the material. They are not baby smooth like the Cavalleria Toscana's.

3//

Animo 

Let me be clear, I cannot figure out which pair of breeches I have...I do not see them anywhere and I did get them a few years back so they may not even make the style I have anymore. In general, these breeches stay in place even though they sit right on my hips, the material is comfortable and holds up well. I hadn't worn them for a while but pulled them back out for a lovely two weeks in Aiken and remembered just how much I loved them. The one's in the picture/link aren't exactly what I have but incredibly similar. 

What are your favorite pair(s) of breeches?

Also, is anyone a member of the Cavali club? What do you think? I'm considering joining!

The Sunshine State {Ocala 2019}

A hunk of my horsie dreams came true in the span of ten days this February. I finally had the opportunity to go to Florida and show Lucas for the first time. This year we went to Ocala. I have heard lovely things about Venice and Wellington and hope to experience both of those as well.

So, how did this exciting opportunity happen?? Basically everything just fell into place this time. The barn left a week or so before me so I was without a horse and a saddle between my legs for three weeks arriving in Florida and it just about killed me. When I left work the night before my flight, I could barely contain my excitement.

Up, up, and away I went!
If you want a good lighthearted book, I recommend Horses Adored and Men Endured by Susan Friedland-Smith. 

So I'll spare you all the long winded details of my day by day account of the horse show and instead just cut to the most memorable parts.

1) My hotel has a resident clydesdale and the offer carriage rides

Clearly I lost the pictures I took of Buddy as well. Basically I toggled back and forth between instagram stories and photos and clearly didn't save them all like I thought I did. Blame it on the pure bliss that I was experiencing. 

2) I jumped my first course on Lucas less than a week before I showed. That's right. What a monumental moment. I have been waiting a year for this, okay?

3) I showed Lucas for the first time! Not only did we compete and jump our first course together less than a week ago, but we ended up champion. Literally, all the waiting and hard work has paid off. Plus it certainly helps to have such a talented horse, even if he is young. 

Now for some outfits of the day!

Hunter(front)/Jumper(back) shirt: SilverOaksFarm

Belt: GhoDho

Breeches: Tailored Sportsman

Socks: Dreamers&Schemers

Top: Rönner Design

Belt: Same as above

Breeches: Struck Apparel

Socks: Dreamers & Schemers

Top: Rönner

Belt: Same

Breeches: Cavalleria Toscana

I did make a new breeches favorite discovery while in Florida and plan on sharing that soon. So I will get new pictures of those breeches so that you all can see! 

Custom Der Dau's

Even though I haven't had the chance to ride in them yet, I just have to share my beautiful custom Der Dau's that I ordered at WEG.

I am in love! I am in the process of breaking them in and didn't want to go wild in new stirrups and new half chaps/boots while lessening all at once so I did the stirrups today and will ride in the Der Dau's later this week.

So I decided to go with a gorgeous chocolate brown leather instead of black. I did the inlay on the half chap and continued the trend down both sides of the zipper and toe of the boot. Close up pictures of the detailing below. 

They turned out even better than I dreamed of. It was so hard to make a decision with all of the options but the whole experience was wonderful and Der Dau really made my vision come to life. I cannot wait to ride in them! Though I am slightly dreading the breaking in process and have been working on that at the house - and woo boy! I haven't broken in any tall boots or chaps for a while and I forgot just how fun that process is. 

The gold details are the icing on the top for me. I absolutely loved creating my custom half chaps and boots and am so grateful to have had the experience. Maybe next time I'll get custom tall boots when I'm done with my parlanti's ;)

If you want to drool over some gorgeous boots, check out their website: http://www.derdau.com

Or go to their instagram page: derdau 

And I cannot finish this post without saying thank you mom for making this dream come true!

Looking for recommendations! Do you have a pair of tall boots that you love? Off the shelf, custom, semi-custom? Let me know! I have had my eye on a pair of Tucci's but I also love my Parlanti's. 

New Year - Same Me

Welcome 2019! 

I have a lot to look forward to this year: Growing and competing with baby Lucas, growing in my career, furthering my career, new adventures with friends and family, and continuing with my fitness goals. 

I wanted to take a moment to reminisce on 2018. 2018 was filled with many firsts, many ups, and a few downs. In 2018, I fell in love with a German stud, brought the poor boy to America, and thus the relationship that is baby Lucas and Hanna was born. Later that year, I graduated, accepted a wonderful job, bought a car (!), had the opportunity to spend a lot amount of quality time with family, and went to the World Equestrian Games. 

2018 was a year filled with transitions, new experiences, news/careers that tested relationships, and much more! I very much enjoyed 2018 and while I wish some things the transpired could magically be poofed away - life doesn't work that way. So here's to you 2018 and to the things to come in 2019. 

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This is the year that I will take more pictures and hopefully get back to a more regular blog schedule. This year is going to be filled with horses and happiness. I am going to work hard to get one step closer to graduate school and my goals. 

I hope you all had a lovely Holiday and a Happy New Year 

Cheers lovelies! 

Gifts For The Equestrian Lover

For any horse lover in your life <3

DREAMERS AND SCHEMERS SOCKS

I know I've mentioned them before, but the more I ride in them, the more I love them. Bonus: they are currently doing buy 3 pairs get the 4th free!

I am definitely getting the baby goats in PJ's!

HUNTSMEN and HOUNDS

I am simply lumping this wonderful shop together because there is so much goodness!

Like this bomber jacket that is on sale NOW! Who doesn't love a good bomber jacket to ride in and then wear on the street. I would buy myself one but...broke problems.

It comes in grey as well! 

The Foxy Pocket t-shirt. 

I have wanted this ever since I stumbled upon it a bit ago! Still on my wishlist! 

Trophy Embroidery Tee

The small detail is killer! They have a fox one as well! 

TUCKER TWEED

Wellington Wristlet

So many beautiful colors to choose from!

Overnight tote

And literally all of their purses - you can't go wrong.

BURBERRY CARD CASE

Absolutely love this

UNICORN iPHONE CHARGING CABLE

Who doesn't want a light up unicorn charger?? 

What is on your wishlist this year? Anything I should add to mine?

Also, wish baby Lucas good luck as he moves up to the big kid world of the 3ft greens this coming weekend!

Best baby.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things: Equestrian Edition

I am still withdrawing from WEG and two weeks of horse showing and my hectic work schedule has got me dreaming of freedom and riding again. So what better to do than post about all of my current favorite horsie related things. 

I have spent a lot of time trying on show coats and have finally found coats that I really like the fit and they are boring but stylish hunter coats. I am all about some bling and we can get away with a smidgen in the hunter ring but not too much. 

The Ego 7 Hunter Coat. Totally classy hunter, machine washable, and lite weight. 

Ego 7 

Equiline Hayley Hunter Jacket. Probably my favorite one I tried on. The fit, for me, is great. And you can customize if you want to!

Equiline Hayley Jacket

I went hunting for new paddock boots at WEG. I have my last pair of Dansko riding boots and they are so comfortable but they stopped making them years ago. Let me introduce you to the Ego 7 Libra paddock boots. They are exceptionally comfortable, stylish, and reasonably priced. 

Ego 7 Paddock Boots

My newest obsession. Cavalleria Toscana Toscana new grip breeches. I didn't understand the obsession until I tried them on. Now I want a closet full of them. They are so flattering and so stinkin' comfortable!

Find them here

No introduction needed for Dreamers and Schemers boot socks. These are the best boot socks ever. They stay up and have just the right amount of material. Oh and they have the cutest designs!! And you can customize your own design!

Here they are!

The Roeckl Madrid Riding Glove. I caved and got the black and gold and they are so pretty and fun to school in. I am really thinking of the mocha/gold or grey next! 

What are your favorite horsie things? And did you notice that I didn't mention Snaks 5th Avenchew? Not because I don't love them (because I do and their Thanksgiving collection is so adorable! Mine arrived yesterday - no shame), but I was trying to stick to riding gear this time. 

WEG Experience

I was lucky enough to spend (almost) a week at the World Equestrian Games and I have to admit that coming home and working the next day was a painful experience. I never wanted to leave the bubble that was WEG 2018. As I mentioned in my previous post, yes, there was unfinished parts of buildings, etc. but that did not hinder my experience what so ever. The only issue we ran into when I was there occurred on Saturday during the driving out on the cross country course. A huge lack of communication left a lot of us stuck there longer than expected while waiting for shuttles - but it all ended up ok. 

On to the good stuff now, shall we? While I missed the last day of show jumping, I was lucky enough to experience the nail biting jump off between USA and Sweden during the team portion of the competition. Watching Mclain Ward and Clinta put in the final round in the deafening silence gave me heart palpitations. The jump off could not have been any more of a nail biter and seeing the USA win gold was incredible!

Mclain and Clinta doing what they do best!

My crummy iPhone pics from the winning ceremony. 

While show jumping has my heart, I also spent a hunk of time watching vaulting and driving. I appreciate every discipline and knowing that the love of horses brought all these people together was such a special moment. 

 Can I just say how impressed I am with vaulting?? I cannot fathom being able to do any of that on a horse. I wish I were that flexible and graceful, but sadly I am not so I will continue to stick with the hunters and jumpers. 

Being the horse crazy person I am, I want to get my hands on all the horse activities. My new found passion (in my mind because I obviously haven't actually tried) is driving. I need to find someone who can teach me the basics of driving. The teams were just incredible! 

Other random pictures from around WEG.

 Disclaimer: I might be a creeper. I love Kaley Cuoco and was so excited to see her husband, Karl Cook. I was hoping Kaley would be there, but she was off doing other awesome things (like animal fundraisers) during WEG. 

Oh and if shopping is your thing, then you would have loved it. I shopped until I dropped and kept going back for more. I have so many new and exciting equestrian apparel to review! Like my new found love for Dreamers and Schemers boot socks. They are the cutest things ever! 

 You better believe I am now the proud owner of purple unicorn boot socks. I also found an adorable pair of unicorn llamas. 

I discovered a new brand that I must say I love. Seriously, I tried on breeches, a show coat, paddock boots, and half chaps and they were seriously all wonderful. Take a peak at Ego 7 and let me know if you've tried any of their products. I did come home with a few that I will tell you all about once I get the opportunity to test them out.  

I also got a few custom surprises that I will have posts about once they arrive. 

I hope you all have had a nice start to your week. I have a hectic week but am reminiscing of my days at WEG and wishing I was back there ignoring my daily responsibilities. 

Before I go, here is a shameless proud mamma plug on my boy being champion at his first real horse show!

I just love this boy.